WE Cinemas
WE Cinemas (Chinese 荣华戏院） is a Singaporean cinema operator managed by Eng Wah Global Pte Ltd. It was previously called Eng Wah Cinemas, but on 19 April 2011, it was renamed to WE Cinemas.1 History *'Eng Wah Global Pte Ltd' is founded by Mr Goh Eng Wah. Its first cinemas were Happy Theatre and the open-air Victory Theatre, both in Happy World at Geylang began operating in 1945. *In the 1960s, Mr Goh Eng Wah expanded his cinema chain to Raffles Hotel (Jubilee Hall) and King's Theatre at Tiong Bahru. *In the 1970s & 1980s, it expanded to the new HDB towns in Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio, Clementi and Kallang Basin and became the leading 1 film exhibitor and distributor *On 7 July 1994, the cinema became the first operator to be listed in the SGX 1. At the same time, it also renovates its entertainment centres at Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh and Clementi.2 *In 1998 & 1999, the group again expanded it cinema chains to newer HDB towns in Bukit Batok, Pasir Ris and Sembawang. It also open its first cinema in downtown at Suntec City. *In 2002, It became the first cinema exhibitor in Singapore to implement an on-line loyalty program named (Friends of Eng Wah) as well as provide the SMS-a-movie service. *In 2003, the group is the first exhibitor outside of the USA to deploy a full 2K Digital Cinema system and first exhibitor in the world to commercially screen a full 2K-enabled digital movie. 2 *In 2004, the group have the most 2K Digital Cineplex in the world. *In 2005, the group signed a deal with Crazy Horse but it closed in 2007 due to poor demands and mounting losses. *In 2007, the cinema is one of the first showcase 4D Digital cinema technology with Spiderman 3 on 1st May 2007 at Suntec City.3 *In 2008, the group went through a reverse handover with Transcu and sold the properties to Mr Goh Eng Wah's company for $99.5 million.4 *In 2010, the group announced to spend $100 million to renovate and makeover the cinemas.5 Events *The group is the principal partner for National Day Parade from 2007 till now. *The group is the first to pledge support to Singapore's bid for the Youth Olympics Games 2010 2 Awards *Placed among the top 100 Asian companies in CIO Asia’s CIO 100 List. (2005) *Best Service, Best Snack Bar, Best Sound – The Sunday Times (2006) *SPBA Heritage Brand Award Winner (2006) *Selected as one of the “100 Singapore Icons”; a representation of logos, symbols, trademarks and icons that are significant to Singapore’s social history and visual culture. (2010) 2 Locations *Empress Entertainment Centre @ Clementi (10 Halls) *West Mall @ Bukit Batok (6 2K Digital Halls and 3 3D Digital halls) *Suntec City @ Downtown Core (5 2K Digital Halls and 3 3D Digital Halls) Defunct Locations *Sun Plaza @ Sembawang *Toa Payoh Entertainment Centre @ Toa Payoh *Jubilee Entertainment Centre @ Ang Mo Kio Reference *About Us 1 *Milestone 2 *EWO Annual Report 2007 3 *Eng Wah Reverse Takeover Completed 4 *Eng Wah Upgrades 5 See also *List of cinemas in Singapore External links *WE Cinemas (official site) Category:Cinema chains in Singapore